DOCSLIB.ORG

Technology and Global Development

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Technology and Global Development Technology Dynamics and Transition Management in China Technology Dynamics: Concepts and Theories Social group Solution Problem Social Solution group Problem Solution Social group Artefact Problem Problem Social Group Social group Social Solution group Problem Solution Problem Prof. Mi Jianing School of Management, Harbin Institute of Technology Dr Wim Ravesteijn Section Technology Dynamics and Sustainable Development, faculty of Technology, Policy and Management, Delft University of Technology January 8, 2010 1 Technology Dynamics Itaipu Dam Background: development; “Brazil energy superpower” Output: 93% Of the energy consumed by Paraguay and 20% of that consumed by Brazil (2005) Context: negotiations and agreements between Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina Problem: 2000-2001 Drought resulted in recurring blackouts and rationing of electricity usage Social impact: approximately 10,000 families were dislodged from their plots. Some of these families eventually came to be http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Itaipu2.JPG members of one of Brazil's largest social movements : the Landless Workers Movement. January 8, 2010 2 Technology Dynamics What is happening here? January 8, 2010 3 Technology Dynamics What is happening here? Does technology* development take place autonomously or is technology shaped by its social context? In other words: do engineers take the lead in technology development or do they have to do what society asks them to do? * Technology = product, man-made artifact or technical system, hardware January 8, 2010 4 Technology Dynamics Visions Technological determinism / Technology push: Technology determines society Technology is always a positive sum game Technology development is autonomous & linear Social constructivism / society demands: Society and social groups determine technology; e.g. SCOT- model Co-evolution of technology & society E.g. socio-technical systems theory (Hughes) January 8, 2010 5 Technology Dynamics Autonomous Technology Every new generation has some creative geniuses. They invent some new technologies (by there more than average intelligence or by pure coincidence). The act of invention is independent of society. Succesful inventions diffuse in society and, thereupon, transform society. January 8, 2010 6 Technology Dynamics Autonomous Technology Technology innovation is not accidental but depending on scientific progress. As scientific progress is the result of its own dynamics, and independent of societal change, technological change is independent of society. (E.g. Dijksterhuis, 1950 and Koyre, 1943). January 8, 2010 7 Technology Dynamics Autonomous Technology Scientific knowledge accumulates Technology is applied science Resources for technological innovation are growing forever Technology is ever improving Technological autonomy → Technological determinism Jacques Ellul: Traditional technology vs. modern technology (1960s) January 8, 2010 8 Technology Dynamics Traditional Technology according to Ellul: Limited in its application (technologies were often based on specific local resources and therefore hardly transferable); Dependent on limited resources and on ‘skill’ (skills like making and repairing tools, but also being able to judge weather conditions, or the tides); Local in its character, i.e., technological solutions for specific problems were embedded in local culture and traditions. January 8, 2010 9 Technology Dynamics Ellul characterizes modern technology by: Automatism, i.e. there is only one ‘best’ way to solve a problem, and this technology seems to be compelling, everywhere on the planet; Self increase, i.e. a new technology reinforces the growth of other technologies: this leads to exponential growth; Indivisibility: the technological way of life must be accepted completely, including its good and bad sides; Cohesion, i.e. technologies that are used in various different areas have much in common; Universalism, i.e. technology is geographically as well as qualitatively omnipresent. January 8, 2010 10 Unabomber Attacks January 8, 2010 11 Unabomber Attacks Unabomber Reasoning The car increases our freedom by increased freedom of movement By having a car, we can do our shopping in malls Small neighbourhood shops disappear We therefore are forced to have a car So a technology like the car limits our liberty Implications of this view for possibility to steer technology development? January 8, 2010 12 Technology Dynamics The linear model of technology development Development First Development Broad of new Introduction of new product Diffusion Effects Fundamental in market or system in society knowledge niche January 8, 2010 13 Technology Dynamics Social constructivism Various social groups are involved with technology Every group has a specific view of a certain technology Example: PC. • secretary: type writer • book keeper: administration tool • at home: communication tool Technologies are shaped by demand / influence of relevant social groups January 8, 2010 14 Technology Dynamics SCOT-model: Social Construction of Technology Artifact Relevant social groups Interpretative flexibility Inclusion of new groups Technological frame January 8, 2010 15 Technology Dynamics SCOT-model: Social Construction of Technology Social group Solution Social group Solution Social Solution group Artefact Problem Problem Social group Problem Social group Solution Problem Social Solution Group Problem Problem January 8, 2010 16 Technology Dynamics Example: Development of the Bicycle January 8, 2010 17 Technology Dynamics Example: Development of the Bicycle Boneshaker Macmillan’s bicycle Guilmet’s bicycle Penny Farthing Xtraordinary Geared Facile Star Club Safety Lawson’s Bicyclette January 8, 2010 18 Technology Dynamics Example: Development of the Bicycle 1818 Draisienne Two-wheeled rider-propelled machine January 8, 2010 19 Technology Dynamics Example: Development of the Bicycle http://www.phys.uri.edu/~tony/bicycle/draisien.gif January 8, 2010 20 Technology Dynamics Example: Development of the Bicycle 1861 Michaux January 8, 2010 21 Technology Dynamics Example: Development of the Bicycle January 8, 2010 22 Technology Dynamics Example: Development of the Bicycle 1874 Ariel January 8, 2010 23 Technology Dynamics Example: Development of the Bicycle from 1879 Safety bicycles 1885 Rover Safety Bicycle http://www.phys.uri.edu/~tony/bicycle/rover.gif January 8, 2010 24 Technology Dynamics Example: Development of the Bicycle 1890s Ordinary http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/co mmons/thumb/a/a7/Ordinary_bicycle01.jp g/180px-Ordinary_bicycle01.jpg January 8, 2010 25 Technology Dynamics Example: Development of the Bicycle Penny farthing, up to 1.5 m Line of development guided by a speed wish sustained by young, sportive men for whom the danger of falling was part of the fun 1893 High wheeler http://www.bikes.msu.edu/history/web/hi- wheeler-1-P3019443.JPG January 8, 2010 26 Technology Dynamics Example: Development of the Bicycle Safety bike Reflectors for night riding Women, recreation cyclists, older people were all interested in the development of a safe and comfortable bike (with brakes, rear wheel drive, pneumatic tires etc.) Ultimately, interpretative flexibility declined: one (safety) bike, used by all actors, the old and the (included) new actors http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Bicycle.jpg January 8, 2010 27 Technology Dynamics Example: Development of the Bicycle January 8, 2010 28 Technology Dynamics Example: Development of the Bicycle Solution! January 8, 2010 29 Technology Dynamics Example: Development of the Bicycle, SCOT-model: concepts Artifact: bike Relevant social groups: esp. sportive, young men Inclusion of new groups: e.g. women and old people Interpretative flexibility: speed vs safe transportation January 8, 2010 30 Technology Dynamics Technological frame Mindset for design and the solution of problems; mechanical engineering frame Technological regime: all rules steering engineering design January 8, 2010 31 Technology Dynamics Technological regime: Moore’s law http://www.seed.slb.com/en/scictr/watch/co mputer/images/moores_law.jpg Every 18 months: twice as many IC’s on a chip January 8, 2010 32 Technology Dynamics Technological regimes Rules for technological acting: Design demands and design tools, educational programme Beliefs and expectations, e.g. Moore’s Law Guiding principles, e.g. digital solutions are preferable January 8, 2010 33 Technology Dynamics Perspectives • Actor perceptions, embedded in society and culture • Engineers regimes, embedded in technology, society and culture • Other regimes, e.g. political regimes January 8, 2010 34 Technology Dynamics Regimes Social-political regimes, e.g. (neo-) colonial policy: exploitation Æ welfare Æ development cooperation Techno-economic regimes, e.g. key technologies with regard to industrial revolution (steam, electricity, ICT) January 8, 2010 35 Technology Dynamics Sociotechnical systems Artifact, e.g. sluice Complex artifact, e.g. sluice complex Technical system, e.g. irrigation system of canals and structures Sociotechnical system, e.g. system of irrigation and management or network of such systems January 8, 2010 36 Technology Dynamics Electricity System Universal supply system Berlin 1930 January 8, 2010 37 Technology Dynamics Sociotechnical Systems A system is constituted of related parts or components These components are connected: the state, or activity, of one component influences the state, or activity, of other components in the system Components are often centrally controlled Limits are established by the extent
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Future Perspective of Electric Bicycles in Sustainable Mobility in China By
    Future Perspective of Electric Bicycles in Sustainable Mobility in China by Xiao Lin A Thesis Submitted in Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy of Cardiff University Logistics and Operations Management Section of Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University July 2016 “Before we can even ask how things might go wrong, we must first explain how they could ever go right.” – F. A. Hayek 1 DECLARATION This work has not previously been accepted in substance for any degree and is not concurrently submitted in candidature for any degree. Signed ……… ………………………………………. (candidate) Date ………05/09/2016………………… STATEMENT 1 This thesis is being submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of ……………PhD……………(insert MCh, Md, MPhil, PhD etc, as appropriate) Signed ……… ………………………………………. (candidate) Date ………05/09/2016………………… STATEMENT 2 This thesis is the result of my own independent work/investigation, except where otherwise stated. Other sources are acknowledged by footnotes giving explicit references. Signed ……… ……………………………………. (candidate) Date ………05/09/2016………………… STATEMENT 3 I hereby give consent for my thesis, if accepted, to be available for photocopying and for inter-library loan, and for the title and summary to be made available to outside organisations. Signed ……… ……………………………………. (candidate) Date ………05/09/2016………………… I Abstract The thesis seeks to analyse the electric bicycle (e-bike) transition phenomenon in China by applying the Multi-Level Perspective (MLP) Transition Theory and Multi-scalar
    [Show full text]
  • Capitalism and Morality ______
    Capitalism and Morality _________________________ THE TEMPORAL DIMENSION OF TECHNOLOGY AND THE MOVING PICTURE OF THE GOOD Richard P. Mullin Professor Emeritus Wheeling Jesuit University Appeared in Wheeling Jesuit University’s Cardinal Perspectives Spring 1996 Picture of the Good One of the most urgent tasks of philosophy is to understand how ethical, social, and technological goods can be integrated in the midst of rapid change. The problem is to a large extent caused by moral myopia and tunnel vision.1 It is hard to get a clear focus when the viewer and the picture are moving so rapidly and irregularly. Technical advance and social change have a reciprocal relationship. This spawns a myriad of ethical problems which are distinctive to a technologically advancing society. Many of the social and ethical problems which involve technology result from the fact that technology does not advance evenly. When the technical aspect of social change combines with non-technical facets of life such as morality, legality, and politics, the unevenness becomes more pronounced and more troublesome. The Temporal Dimension Ethics must take account of the temporal dimension, i.e., the dimension of change. As the world and our interpretation of it change more and more rapidly, the past fades quickly out of sight while the future rushes on us ready-or-not. Past decisions were made without much of the information now available to us and within world-views which we can recapture only with great difficulty. The decisions which we make today will affect a future of which we are largely ignorant in ways at which we can only guess.
    [Show full text]
  • Energy Research & Social Science
    Energy Research & Social Science 70 (2020) 101617 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Energy Research & Social Science journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/erss Review Sociotechnical agendas: Reviewing future directions for energy and climate T research ⁎ Benjamin K. Sovacoola, , David J. Hessb, Sulfikar Amirc, Frank W. Geelsd, Richard Hirshe, Leandro Rodriguez Medinaf, Clark Millerg, Carla Alvial Palavicinoh, Roopali Phadkei, Marianne Ryghaugj, Johan Schoth, Antti Silvastj, Jennie Stephensk, Andy Stirlingl, Bruno Turnheimm, Erik van der Vleutenn, Harro van Lenteo, Steven Yearleyp a University of Sussex, United Kingdom and Aarhus University, Denmark b Vanderbilt University, United States c Nanyang Technological University, Singapore d The University of Manchester, United Kingdom e Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, United States f Universidad de las Americas Puebla, Mexico g Arizona State University, United States h Universiteit Utrecht, Netherlands i Macalester College, United States j Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway k Northeastern University, United States l University of Sussex, United Kingdom m Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire Sciences Innovations Sociétés, France n Eindhoven University of Technology, Netherlands o Universiteit Maastricht, Netherlands p The University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Keywords: The field of science and technology studies (STS) has introduced and developed a “sociotechnical” perspective Science and technology studies that has been taken up by many disciplines and areas of inquiry. The aims and objectives of this study are Sociotechnical systems threefold: to interrogate which sociotechnical concepts or tools from STS are useful at better understanding Science technology and society energy-related social science, to reflect on prominent themes and topics within those approaches, and to identify Sociology of scientific knowledge current research gaps and directions for the future.
    [Show full text]
  • Science & Technology Studies
    ALEXANDRA HOFMÄNNER SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY STUDIES ELSEWHERE A Postcolonial Programme SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY STUDIES In April 2017, scientists took to the streets in a historically unprecedented Global March for Science. The event was seen as symbolic of a crisis in the relationship of science and society. This book considers the Global March ELSEWHERE for Science from a postcolonial perspective to inquire into the toolkit that the academic field of Science & Technology Studies (STS) has to offer. It HOFMÄNNER ALEXANDRA argues that new concepts and analytical approaches are necessary to in- A POSTCOLONIAL vestigate current global dynamics in science, technology and society, so as to deliver insights that the recent expansion of STS scholars beyond PROGRAMME Western Europe and North America alone is unlikely to provide. The book presents a Programme in Science Studies Elsewhere (SSE) to demonstrate the urgent need to carry postcolonial issues right into the centre of STS’s intellectual programme. Hofmänner possesses a potent antidote for the field’s inability to see science and technology outside of European or North American experiences. Rayvon Fouché, Professor and Director, American Studies, Purdue University, USA A compelling case for revisiting some of the traditional assumptions in the field of STS. Prof. Dr. Sabine Maasen, Director of the Munich Center for Technology in Society Alexandra Hofmänner is assistant professor in Science & Technology ELSEWHERE STUDIES TECHNOLOGY & SCIENCE Studies ( ST S) at the University of Basel, Switzerland. She received a PhD at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology ( ETH Zürich ) and has carried out extensive research in Switzerland and South Africa. www.schwabeverlag.de Alexandra Hofmänner Science & Technology Studies Elsewhere A Postcolonial Programme Schwabe Verlag Published with the support of the Swiss National Science Foundation and the Freiwillige Akademische Gesellschaft.
    [Show full text]
  • How Are Radical Innovations Developed? an Analytical Framework to Examine Radical Innovations Based on the Values of Cohesion Approach
    Paper to be presented at the DRUID 2012 on June 19 to June 21 at CBS, Copenhagen, Denmark, How are radical innovations developed? An analytical framework to examine radical innovations based on the Values of Cohesion approach. LUCIA HELENA H. T. VIEGAS Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos - FINEP The Brazilian Agency of Innovation [email protected] JOSÉ VITOR BOMTEMPO Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro Escola de Química, Área de Gestão e Inovação Tecnológi [email protected] Abstract Our research proposes an analytical framework to examine radical innovations in the Kuhnian sense, based on the comprehension of the values of cohesion of a paradigm. We define radical innovation as the resultant of both a mode of production as a systemic conformation, and an institutional mode. Our research complements existing systemic studies on radical innovations, but under a different vision. Our approach takes into account the structural dimension that maintains a paradigm cohesive. The proposed framework is grounded on the structuralist approach, typical of studies of Human/Social Sciences (e.g., the works of Cl. Lévi-Strauss, F. de Saussure, W. Dilthey). This perspective enables the study of those factors that are manifested as a virtuality: as a belief, an ideological symbol, a cultural value, etc. Our framework was conceived to capture the virtualities, which express the conditions for the development of radical innovations. The proposed analytical framework based on values of cohesion - VCF is constituted of three analytical dimensions: the wheel of relationships, the force of cohesion, and the steps of transmission. The proposed VCF was validated to examine the potential for radical innovation in the change of raw materials sources for the Brazilian chemical industry, from fossils to renewables.
    [Show full text]
  • 1997 Getting Technologies Together Introd.Pdf
    1 INTRODUCTION Cornelis Disco and Barend van der Meulen In 1970 the United States Atomic Energy Commission announced a plan to bury long-term radioactive waste in the salt mines of Lyons, Kansas. Ten years of careful investigation had demonstrated the safety of salt mine disposal and the suitability of Lyons as a trial site. Public acceptance seemed a matter of course. However, efforts to implement the plan aroused a major public outcry. A well- researched and presumptively routine technology became a practical impossibility. What had gone wrong? Since its founding shortly after World War II, the Atomic Energy Commission had done its best to monopolize decision-making on nuclear waste disposal. Accordingly it had worked out a highly ‘bureaucratic’ and ‘technological’ solution for radwaste disposal which excluded other organizations and groups. Against the background of this legacy, Lyons was a bridge too far. The Atomic Energy Commissions actions there produced a vocal opposition composed of both old and new opponents. Lacking allies, the Atomic Energy Commission was forced to recall its carefully constructed plans (De la Bruhèze). In 1985 the famous cruise ship Queen Elizabeth II was renovated. Among other things the owners were interested in upgrading the efficiency of the propeller system. An entirely new type of propeller system was proudly presented at conferences as an example of the manufacturer’s capabilities. However, at the sea trials of the renovated Queen Elizabeth II the propeller blades broke off. Two years later, the manufacturer was able to market a similar propeller system only after assuring the public that the entire design process had been overhauled.
    [Show full text]
  • Dedehayir Makinen Determining Reverse Salient Types
    Tampere University of Technology Author(s) Dedehayir, Ozgur; Mäkinen, Saku Title Determining reverse salient types and evolutionary dynamics of technology systems with performance disparities Citation Dedehayir, Ozgur; Mäkinen, Saku 2011. Determining reverse salient types and evolutionary dynamics of technology systems with performance disparities. Technology Analysis & Strategic Management vol. 23, num. 10, 1095-1114. Year 2011 DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09537325.2011.621308 Version Post-print URN http://URN.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tty-201311271475 Copyright This is an Author's Accepted Manuscript of an article published in Technology Analysis & Strategic Management, volume 23, issue 10, 01 Nov 2011. Copyright Taylor & Francis, available online at: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/09537325.2011.621308. All material supplied via TUT DPub is protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights, and duplication or sale of all or part of any of the repository collections is not permitted, except that material may be duplicated by you for your research use or educational purposes in electronic or print form. You must obtain permission for any other use. Electronic or print copies may not be offered, whether for sale or otherwise to anyone who is not an authorized user. Determining reverse salient types and evolutionary dynamics of technology systems with performance disparities Ozgur Dedehayir∗ and Saku J. Mäkinen Department of Industrial Management, Tampere University of Technology, Tampere, Finland ∗ Corresponding author. Email: [email protected] ABSTRACT Technological system evolution is marked by the uneven evolution of constituent sub‐systems. Subsequently, system evolution is hampered by the resulting state of unevenness, or reverse salience, which results from the presence of the sub‐system that delivers the lowest level of performance with respect to other sub‐systems, namely, the reverse salient.
    [Show full text]
  • The Age of Knowledge Studies in Critical Social Sciences
    The Age of Knowledge Studies in Critical Social Sciences Series Editor David Fasenfest Wayne State University Editorial Board Chris Chase-Dunn, University of California-Riverside G. William Domhoff, University of California-Santa Cruz Colette Fagan, Manchester University Matha Gimenez, University of Colorado, Boulder Heidi Gottfried, Wayne State University Karin Gottschall, University of Bremen Bob Jessop, Lancaster University Rhonda Levine, Colgate University Jacqueline O’Reilly, University of Brighton Mary Romero, Arizona State University Chizuko Ueno, University of Tokyo VOLUME 37 The titles published in this series are listed at brill.nl/scss The Age of Knowledge The Dynamics of Universities, Knowledge and Society Edited by James Dzisah Henry Etzkowitz LEIDEN • BOSTON LEIDEN • BOSTON 2012 Cover illustration: 1978 Triple Helix. © Henry Etzkowitz This book is printed on acid-free paper. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data The age of knowledge : the dynamics of universities, knowledge & society / edited by James Dzisah, Henry Etzkowitz. p. cm. -- (Studies in critical social sciences ; v. 37) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-90-04-21102-5 (hardback : alk. paper) 1. Universities and colleges--Social aspects. 2. Education, Higher--Social aspects. 3. Knowledge, Sociology of. I. Dzisah, James. II. Etzkowitz, Henry, 1940- LB2324.A34 2011 378.01--dc23 2011029425 ISSN 1573-4234 ISBN 978 90 04 21102 5 Copyright 2012 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Global Oriental, Hotei Publishing, IDC Publishers, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers and VSP. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher.
    [Show full text]
  • THOMAS J. MISA Program in History of Science, Technology & Medicine University of Minnesota Minneapolis MN 55455 Tmisa [
    THOMAS J. MISA Program in History of Science, Technology & Medicine University of Minnesota Minneapolis MN 55455 tmisa [at] umn.edu tjmisa.com twitter: @tjmisa8 Education University of Pennsylvania. Ph.D. in History and Sociology of Science, 1987. Dissertation: “Science, Technology, and Industrial Structure: Steelmaking in America, 1870-1925.” Dissertation advisor Thomas P. Hughes. M.A., 1983. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. S.B. in Applied Biology, 1981; minor in STS. Awards, Fellowships and Grants Listed in Directory of American Scholars; Contemporary Authors; Who’s Who in America; Writers Directory. Department of Energy/Los Alamos National Laboratory. Collaborative Research Project: High Performance Computing (HPC) at Los Alamos, 2014-19. University of Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities. “Collaborative Innovation and the Global Midwest: Inter-disciplinary Design and Envisioning Prairie Futures.” 2015-17 [consortium with Illinois and Purdue] Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. “Tripling Women’s Participation in Computing (1965-1985)” 2014-16. National Science Foundation. “Technology and Modernity” 1999-2000. “Technology and the Making of 20th Century Europe” 2002-6. “Research Methods for Contemporary History of Computing” 2007-8. “Designing and Using FastLane: Lessons for Cyberinfrastructures” 2008-12. “Building an Infrastructure for Computer Security History” 2011-15. Society for the History of Technology. Dexter Prize, 1997. <www.jstor.org/stable/1215899> IEEE Life Members Prize in Electrical History, 1987. <www.jstor.org/stable/3105281> Illinois Institute of Technology. Bauer Family Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award, 1993. Lewis College Faculty Teaching Award, 1993. ERIF awards 1988, 1990-91, 1993-94. Hagley Museum and Library. Center for the History of Business, Technology and Society.
    [Show full text]
  • Uncertainty and the Communication of Time
    UNCERTAINTY AND THE COMMUNICATION OF TIME Systems Research and Behavioral Science 11(4) (1994) 31-51. Loet Leydesdorff Department of Science and Technology Dynamics Nieuwe Achtergracht 166 1018 WV AMSTERDAM The Netherlands Abstract Prigogine and Stengers (1988) [47] have pointed to the centrality of the concepts of "time and eternity" for the cosmology contained in Newtonian physics, but they have not addressed this issue beyond the domain of physics. The construction of "time" in the cosmology dates back to debates among Huygens, Newton, and Leibniz. The deconstruction of this cosmology in terms of the philosophical questions of the 17th century suggests an uncertainty in the time dimension. While order has been conceived as an "harmonie préétablie," it is considered as emergent from an evolutionary perspective. In a "chaology", one should fully appreciate that different systems may use different clocks. Communication systems can be considered as contingent in space and time: substances contain force or action, and they communicate not only in (observable) extension, but also over time. While each communication system can be considered as a system of reference for a special theory of communication, the addition of an evolutionary perspective to the mathematical theory of communication opens up the possibility of a general theory of communication. Key words: time, communication, cosmology, epistemology, self-organization UNCERTAINTY AND THE COMMUNICATION OF TIME Introduction In 1690, Christiaan Huygens noted that: "(I)t is not well to identify certitude with clear and distinct perception, for it is evident that there are, so to speak, various degrees of that clearness and distinctness. We are often deluded in things which we think we certainly understand.
    [Show full text]
  • The Emergence of Innovation Ecosystems: Exploring the Role of the Keystone Firm
    THESIS FOR THE DEGREE OF LICENTIATE OF ENGINEERING The emergence of innovation ecosystems: Exploring the role of the keystone firm GOUTHANAN PUSHPANANTHAN Department of Technology Management and Economics CHALMERS UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY Gothenburg, Sweden 2019 1 The emergence of innovation ecosystems: Exploring the role of the keystone firm GOUTHANAN PUSHPANANTHAN © GOUTHANAN PUSHPANANTHAN, 2019. ISSN 1654-9732 Technical report no. L2019:114 Department of Technology Management and Economics Chalmers University of Technology SE-412 96 Gothenburg Sweden Telephone + 46 (0)31-772 1000 Printed by Chalmers Reproservice Gothenburg, Sweden 2019 2 The emergence of innovation ecosystems: Exploring the role of the keystone firm Abstract During periods of technological change, firms seek new collaborations and sometimes even reach out to competitors in order to obtain new resources and competences. Understanding the collaborations surrounding new technologies has implications for firms pursuing opportunities with new technologies. The notion of ecosystems is increasingly used in literature to address value creation activities involving a network of firms. The purpose of this licentiate thesis is to understand the emergence of new innovation ecosystems. Previous research on ecosystems recognizes “keystone” firm as the anchor that ensures growth and stability in the ecosystem. However, the activities that foreshadow the development of an ecosystem and the role played by a prospective keystone firm in the emergence of an ecosystem is undertheorized. Based on a longitudinal case study of a technology development program at an automotive firm, the findings presented in this licentiate thesis show how the joint venture established by the incumbent firm led to the development of a modular technology.
    [Show full text]
  • The Past and Future of Constructive Technology Assessment
    NORTH- HOLLAND The Past and Future of Constructive Technology Assessment JOHAN SCHOT and ARIE RIP ABSTRACT Constructive technology assessment (C-f A) is a member of the family of technology assessment approaches, developed in particular in the Netherlands and Denmark. CTA shifts the focus away from assessing impacts of new technologies to broadening design, development, and implementation processes. Explicit CTA has concentrated on dialogue among and early interaction with new actors. The idea has been taken up by actors other than governments (consumers, producers). CTA implies a modulation of ongoing technological developments, and an understanding of the dynamics of such modulation is used to identify and briefly discuss three generic strategies for CTA: technology forcing, strategic niche management, and loci for alignmenl. Modulation activities are to be located in the broader issue of how our societies handle new technology at all. The established division of labor between promotion and control should be mitigated by sociotechnical criticism. This underlines the need for reflection on role and value profile of CTA agents. © 1997 Elsevier Science Inc. Introduction In the three decades since the first articulation of technology assessment (TA), a whole family of TA approaches has emerged. Smits, Leyten, and Den Hertog [1] distinguish awareness TA, strategic TA, and constructive TA. Grin and van der Graaf [2] emphasize interactive TA, a more symmetrical version of what used to be called participatory TA [3]. This family of approaches is characterized by its commitment to what we see as an overall TA philosophy: to reduce the human costs of trial and error learning in society's handling of new technologies, and to do so by anticipating potential impacts and feeding these insights back into decision making, and into actors' strategies.
    [Show full text]